Safeguarding considerations in housing disrepair cases: a guide for professionals

When working with tenants in disrepair cases, practitioners may encounter clients whose circumstances raise safeguarding concerns. This guide is for housing professionals, social workers, advice workers, and legal practitioners who need to understand how safeguarding intersects with housing disrepair work.

Why does safeguarding arise in disrepair cases?

Housing disrepair cases frequently involve clients who are also at risk of harm in other ways. Safeguarding concerns may arise because:

• The tenant is elderly, disabled, or has a mental health condition and the disrepair is putting them at increased physical risk
• The poor housing conditions are affecting the welfare of children in the property
• The tenant is isolated or lacks capacity to act in their own interests
• The landlord's behaviour, beyond failing to repair, includes harassment, intimidation, or unlawful entry that puts the tenant at risk

Recognising when a case has a safeguarding dimension is part of competent practice.

Adults at risk

Under the Care Act 2014, adults with care and support needs who are experiencing or at risk of abuse or neglect may trigger a local authority safeguarding duty. In housing disrepair contexts, relevant forms of harm include:

• Neglect: a landlord's sustained failure to maintain a property to the point where it causes serious harm to a vulnerable occupant may constitute neglect
• Financial abuse: where a landlord withholds repairs in order to pressure a tenant, or exploits a tenant's vulnerability in relation to their tenancy
• Domestic abuse: cases where disrepair is linked to a broader pattern of control by a partner who is also the landlord, or where a landlord is aware of abuse and uses repair failures as leverage

If you identify an adult at risk, a referral to the local authority's adult safeguarding team should be considered. This is independent of the disrepair case and does not require the tenant's consent in all circumstances where there is serious risk.

Children in disrepair cases

Where children are living in a property with serious disrepair, particularly damp and mould, excess cold, infestation, or structural hazards, this may engage children's services as well as housing enforcement. Consider:

• Whether the conditions meet the threshold for a referral under section 47 of the Children Act 1989 (risk of significant harm)
• Whether the family should be supported via a Child in Need assessment under section 17
• Whether a Section 17 duty to provide accommodation applies where the family is at risk of homelessness

Environmental health reports identifying Category 1 HHSRS hazards can be relevant evidence in children's services assessments.

Capacity and litigation

If a tenant lacks mental capacity to instruct a legal representative or to conduct litigation, the Civil Procedure Rules require a litigation friend to be appointed. Practitioners should consider:

• Whether the client can give coherent instructions and understand the nature of the proceedings
• Whether a formal capacity assessment is required
• Who is appropriate to act as litigation friend (a family member, the Official Solicitor, or a professional)

The Mental Capacity Act 2005 framework governs these decisions. A diagnosis of mental illness or learning disability does not automatically mean a person lacks capacity, the assessment is decision-specific.

Information sharing

Safeguarding concerns do not always allow for information to be shared without the tenant's consent, but there are exceptions. The key principles are:

• Seek consent where possible and safe to do so
• Share without consent only where there is a serious and credible risk to life or limb, or where a legal gateway permits it
• Document the reasoning for any decision to share or not to share
• Be aware of GDPR obligations and the Caldicott principles in health and social care settings

Multi-agency working

Effective safeguarding in housing disrepair cases often involves co-ordination between housing practitioners, environmental health, adult social care, children's services, and legal representatives. Where a case has multiple dimensions, consider:

• Whether a Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conference (MARAC) referral is appropriate (domestic abuse cases)
• Whether a professionals' meeting or case conference would help co-ordinate the response
• Whether the local authority has a dedicated housing-related safeguarding pathway

When disrepair cases should be referred to us

We handle housing disrepair claims on behalf of tenants, including those with vulnerabilities. If you are working with a client whose home is in disrepair and the landlord has not acted, we can pursue a claim. We are experienced in working with clients whose circumstances are complex.

Call us on 0800 030 4669 to discuss a referral.

Sources

• Care Act 2014 (safeguarding adults at risk) (legislation.gov.uk)
• Children Act 1989 (legislation.gov.uk)
• Mental Capacity Act 2005 (legislation.gov.uk)

Related articles

• Housing Health and Safety Rating System, a guide for professionals